Book two, Pandemonium – I was really looking forward to this one because I liked Delirium so much. I’m guessing that this is a trilogy, based on how book 2 went. It was one of those books created primarily to set up book three. All very predictable. What happens to Lena when she goes across the fence…leaving Alex behind… exactly what you expect. Now what will happen in book 3 to fix this messy business? I hope it’s a good book 3…
Book two – Saints Astray… I read it. A long time ago (I’m way behind, darn conference and redesign…) I liked it. I liked the way the women (whose names I’ve forgotten by now) hooked up with the rock band and the rock band found their cause. I can totally see that happening. This would actually be a fun series. GMO & lesbian partner go out and save the world, or at least change the world – right wrongs, do good things, etc. Fun!
TW read the second book and warned me that I should read the first book, Santa Olivia, because I don’t like reading series out of order. Totally true and I’m glad I read this one first, there’s too much story that I’d have been confused, I think.
Post-apocalyptic lesbian fiction – awesome. The little saints are great characters. I think the polyamorous relationship was surprisingly well done, too. And, I really like Loupe and Pilar together. I also love the female boxing storyline. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Code Name Verity didn’t really feel like YA. In fact, I suspect the average YA reading kid won’t like it. It’s not about teens and while the main characters were young women, they weren’t that young. It’s deep. It’s complex. And as you read, you know this is not going to end well. And it doesn’t. Except that it does because war is hell and sometimes you have to face your fears and do what it is you fear you would never be able to do. I hated that part but it was right. It was what made the story really worth reading.
I really liked both Queenie (aka Julie) and Maddie. I liked them a lot. I liked them all the way til the end and I still like them. Those are women you want on your team – and as friends.
Oh look, another book recommended by Sassymonkey. I can’t remember what she said about Alif the Unseen – something about there being a lot of interest in it. So, I reserved it. It arrived and TW started to read it. She didn’t get far before she put it down and said she wasn’t going to read it. I was surprised by this. Math, Science, Religion, Myth – seems like her thing. I decided to give it a try, though I didn’t have much hope.
It started slowly but… once the State came for Alif, it picked up and from there, I never even considered putting it down. Brilliant storytelling. The science. The tech. Fabulous. And, written by a woman. That just made it all the better.
(I don’t really understand the Harry Potter comparisons being made by reviewers. There is no comparison.)
When TW finished The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek, I asked her how it was. She told me it was amusing and my response was, “Cool.” She said, “Why? You won’t read this.” I asked her why she thought this – if it was amusing, why wouldn’t I read it. She rambled off some things about it, while I stared at her. When she finished, I said, “Again, why won’t I read that?” I mean, what’s not to like about it?
Light reading.
Quirky town.
New, young minister with “widows” to deal with.
There’s absolutely nothing to dislike about this, if you like fun, light, fiction. Heck, it’s a series and I might have to read another one to see what happens with the good Pastor and the widows.
The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek Read More »
When TW read I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader, she asked me 57 things about cheerleading – most of which I did not know, because cheerleading has changed a lot since I was a cheerleader. It’s even changed a lot since Michelle was a cheerleader, (though Michelle could have answered a lot more of her questions.) So all I really knew about the book was that there was cheerleading – and what sounded like hardcore competition level cheerleading.
Sure enough, that’s what it was.
And it was a lot of fun in a mean girl, teenage girl, cheerleading/football player sort of way – fun because the mean girls were only a little mean (in the scheme of things) and there was a lot of cheerleading going on.
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Surprise! Lone Wolf was one of my favorite Jodi Picoult novels. Big surprise! I did not expect this. It’s been a long time since one of her novels surprised me and this one did.
She went light on the catastrophes and heavy on the super-interesting. Like, when we found out that Luke’s son (and Cara’s brother) was gay… we know something else must have happened because that wasn’t enough to send him away (not to mention it seemed like not something his father would have reacted THAT strongly about) so we knew there was SOMETHING else. And knowing Picoult, it had to be something really HORRIBLE, because that is what she does.
But, when we found out what it was – not horrible. Perfectly normal (hahaha) and reasonable. And not so horrifyingly catastrophic that you’re lefting saying – no, too much. Impossible.
Except, we also KNOW something else happened in that car crash – something Cara doesn’t want to talk about. So, we brace ourself for the HUGE, CATASTROPHIC badness that you know Picoult is going to throw at you. And when it comes, it’s a heartbreaker but NOT THAT BAD.
Shock.
And I liked it. The catastrophe can sometimes take away from the story and the characters. It was very nice to NOT have that happen with what was really an interesting story. Maybe she didn’t blow out the bad because Luke was weird enough that the story didn’t need any more crazy?
The Meryl Streep Movie Club is exactly the kind of book I would not have known about, much less read, if it had not been for book blogs and Sassymonkey who tells me about books like this. Life is much better because of book blogs and Sassymonkey who reads them all for me so that I only have to read a few.
This was the perfect chick lit novel for a busy work week. It also caused TW to want to watch Meryl Streep movies (which we did, but that didn’t keep her from confusing Meryl Streep with Brooke Shields a few days later.)
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I was very surprised when TW put Home into the library bag. She is not the Toni Morrison fan in the family. She doesn’t hate her, she just doesn’t enjoy her as much as I do. I was also surprised when she questioned my decision to read Home. She had already read it and why WOULDN’T I read it – I LIKE TONI MORRISON for god’s sake.
Anyway.
I read it.
Very fast read.
It felt like I had already read Cee’s story. And maybe bits and pieces of the old mean step-grandmother’s story. That part where she beat the dog and lost the cleaning services of the girl – very familiar. The eugenics part – familiar. The part where Cee’s dirtbag boyfriend took off with the car that belonged to her family back home – also familiar. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I’ve read this book.
But, it’s new – and I did not recognize any of the Smart Money pieces and I’m pretty sure I’d have remembered that. Yum yum? Yea, I’d have remembered that.
Anyway – it felt familiar. It was fast. It was Morrison. It was good but not my favorite, by a long shot.